Automatic sprinkler shut-off device



United States Patent Roger E. Thaxton 21734 Barbara St., Torrance, Calif. 90503 [21] Appl. No. 757,882

[22] Filed Sept. 6, 1968 [4S] Patented Dec. 29, 1970 [72] Inventor [54] AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER SHUT-OFF DEVICE 2,743,782 5/] 956 Occhipinti 169/39 Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church Attorney-John l-loltrichter, 11'.

ABSTRACT: This is a device for temporarily preventing the release of water from an orifice of a previously activated auto matic sprinkler head having a space between the orifice and the body of the sprinkler head. It includes a plierlike structure having a jaw and a handle portion, where the jaw portion is biased in the closed position and opened by gripping the handle which will force a resilient cushion attached to the jaw portion over the orifice when the jaw portion is inserted in the aforementioned space in the sprinkler head. The cushion is maintained over the orifice by member spanning the handle portion and which includes a heat sensing element that will disengage this member and allow the jaw portion to close when a predetermined level of heat is reached.

PATENTED [1EC29 mm Roger E. Thcndon INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Over the years, many techniques and schemes have been 7 devised to either prevent, contain or put out a structural fire.- There are today many types of automatic'signaling devices that sense excessive heat in a building and trip an alarm either in the building, in a fire station or bothfThe'se alarms are very helpful in calling aid at the instigation ofa fire when it is much easier to control than it would be at a later time.

It has been found that any fire extinguishing techniques that are employed prior to the arrival of the summoned fire equipment usually are helpful in lessening the amount of damage caused, and in some cases these techniques actually extinguish the blazebefore help arrives.

One of these techniques now widely used in this countryand throughout the world is the automatic sprinkler that consists of a plurality of sprinkler heads. mounted in widely spaced relationship in the ceilings of buildings' and connected to a source of water under high pressure through special valves and draining systems. These sprinkler heads generally comprise a threaded main body section having an orifice at the end of this body section so that water, unless restricted, will flow from the orifice in a downward direction that is usually coincident with the axis of the threaded body section. In order to distribute the water so delivered in a most advantageous manner for fire extinguishing purposes, a pair ofbowlike arms extend downward, around the orifice and join below the orifice to hold a water deflector. Thus, when released, the water strikes the deflector and sprays about the area in which the sprinkler is mounted. i

The automatic element that opens the orifice .when apredetermined level of heat is reached has several forms. It can be a vial of chemical that is sensitive to heat and when it is heated sufficiently, shatters. Or this element can take the form .of metallic'cap member mechanically held to a metallic dome member by a material that'melts at a certain heat level so that the members separate. in all cases, these elements are mounted in the space between the orifice and the deflector in a manner to hold a plug or cushion against the orifice. When the temperature around the heat sensitive element reaches the predetermined level, the vial breaks or the metallic members separate to allow the plug or cushion to fallaway from the orifice and the water to flow therethrough.

Automatic devices of the type just described have proven themselves to be very reliable and are generally required by fire insurance underwriters to be installed in most commercial structures carrying fire insurance. However, the reliability value is that these devices will always activate in the presence ofa fire, but'they may also activate when there is no fire. This generally happens when there is a lot of heat producing equipcould possibly be defeated but is not because the activation of these devices will tend to cool a room in which combustible material is approaching spontaneous combustion before a fire is actually started.

Once an automatic sprinkler device is activated, it has been necessary to: (I) close off the main water supply to the automatic sprinkler system, (2) drain the system,"(3) replace the sprinkler head, and (4) turn off the drain and turn on the pressure supply again. The system must be drained in order to relieve the substantial water pressure contained in the pipes. The performing of all these tasks and the draining of the system is a time-consuming task and requires skilled personnel to accomplish.

In the case of an actual fire, generally all work or business activity is stopped and personnel evacuated to'a safe area. In this situation, the amount of time required to install a new sprinkler head or heads is usually immaterial. However, where a sprinkler valve lets go" when there is no fire or threat thereof, the time consumed to replace the head and the amount of water damage wrought until the water flow can be stopped is very material.

It should readily be evident that under the last-mentioned circumstances, work in the'affected area must stop and the possibility of extensive damage to equipment is great. There fore,- a technique that would enable even an unskilled person to cut off the activated sprinklerhead without requiring that the entire system be turned off. drained, head replaced, and

.then turned on again, at least until a more convenient time to do thesethings, would comprise a substantial improvement in the art. Also, such a technique would have the advantage of obviating the danger that a fire might occur during working hours while the system is drained and thus ineffective. In order to be acceptable to the fire underwriter industry, such an advantageous device should further provide a means to allow the sprinkler head to which it is attached to be again activated in the event that the heat in the vicinity of the head reaches an unsafe level. I I

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an automatic sprinkler shutoff device for temporarily preventing the release of water from an orifice on a previously activated automatic sprinkler head. I

It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple, inexpensive and reliable automatic sprinkler shutoff device'that is easily operated by unskilled persons while not defeating the heat sensing operation of the sprinkler head to which the device is attached.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an automatic sprinkler shutoff device that will enable even unskilled personnel to quickly stem the flow of water from a previously activated automatic sprinkler head to lessen the amount of damage wrought by the flow of water and without the necessity of turning off and draining the entire water supply system during critical danger times.

These and other objectives are provided according to one embodiment of the invention by a device for use on a previously activated sprinkler head having a space between the orilice and the body of the sprinkler head. The device includes a plierlike structure having a jaw portion at one end and a grip handle portion at the other end with a pivot therebetween. This structure is arranged so that the jaw portion expands when the grip handle portion is contracted. To this structure is attached a spring in a manner to cause a bias force to be present that tends to close the jaw portion. To an outer surface of the jaw portion is attached a resilient cushion adapted to cover the orifice of the sprinkler head when the jaw portion is expanded in'the space between the orifice and the sprinkler body by the manual application of a contracting force at the handle portion of the structure against the bias force of the spring. The handle is adjustably maintained in this contracted configuration by a holding bar provided with a linear ratchet, and to which bar is series coupled a heat sensing element for releasing the handle portion to allow the disengagement of the resilient cushion from the orifice of the sprinkler head.

The invention and specific embodiments thereof will be described hereinafter by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements or parts and in which:'

' FlG. l is-an elevational view of an automatic sprinkler head shutoff device constructed according to the invention and attached to a sprinkler head; and v FIG. 2 is a view of the device of FIG. 1 falling away from a sprinkler head to which it was attached after a predetermined 1 safe level of heat had been exceeded in the area of a heat sensing element incorporated in the invention.

With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a sprinkler head ll having a threaded end portion 13 at one end thereof and a deflector 15 attached to a bottom end 17 held by two bowlike side body arms 19 (only oneshown). The threaded end portion 13 has an opening (not shown) axially disposed thereat that extends downward through the head 11 to and communicates with an orifice 21 between the uppermost extremities ofthe side arms 19. 1

Under normal conditions, the head ll is provided with a heat sensing element and plug (not shown) which are disposed in series between orifice 21 and the bottom end 17 so that no water can flow through the orifice 21. However. the head 11 is shown in a previously activated condition where these elements are no longer coupled to the head.

As pictured in FIG. 1, the invention includes a plierlike structure 31 having a jaw portion 33 at one end. a grip handle portion 35 at the other end and a pivot 37 therebetween. The

structure 31 may be fabricated from any suitable metal or hard plastic material in the form of a first member 39 and a second member 41 held together in rotating relationship at and about the pivot 37. Unlike a similar-looking plier arrangement, the structure 31 is arranged so that as a contractual force is applied between the first and second members 39 and 41 at the handle portion 35, these same members at the jaw portion 33 expand or move apart to a position as seen in H6. 1.

To the handle portion 35 of the structure 31 and specifically to the members 39 and 41 is attached a conventional spring 43 disposed in holes 44, which spring is adapted to apply a force between the members 39 and 41 tending to expand the handle portion 35 and close the jaw portion 33. A biasing force can be applied at other points in the structure so long as this force tends to cause the jaw portion 33 to close. For example. a spring or resilient band could be attached to the jaw portion 33 tending to close same.

In order to cover the orifice 21 of the head 11 so that water flowing therefrom will be stopped, a cushion 45 of a resilient material such as rubber or the like is attached by conventional means to an outer surface 47 of the first member 39 adjacent the end of the jaw portion 33. A bumper 49 may be similarly attached to a flat surface 51 of the second member 41 adjacent the jaw portion 33 so as to facilitate ease of coupling the structure 31 to the sprinkler head 11. The bumper 49 may also be a resilient material or it may be fabricated from a relatively hard stock and have a notch 53 to aid in holding the structure 31 in place. However, the bumper 49 is not essential to the operation of the invention and may be deleted or replaced by another similarly functioning member.

Once the handle portion 35 is manually forced to contract, a holding assembly 55 maintains the position of the handle portion. The holding assembly 55 may comprise an arm 57 having a teethlike ratchet portion 59 extending through an aperture 61 in the second member 41 adjacent its end at the handle portion 35. At its other end 63, the arm 57 is attached by means ofa strap 65, machine screw 67 and nut 69 to a conventional heat sensing element 71. This element may be the type comprising a metalic cap 73 mechanically held to a metallic dome 75 by a heat sensitive material 77 that melts at a predetermined safe temperature (see FIG. 2). The heat sensing element is inturn connected by a strap 79 to the first member 39 adjacent the handle portion 35 by a conventional strap holding assembly 81.

The structure 31 may also be provided with a flexible strap or chain 83 that is attachable to a surface, pipe or other anchor point 85 near the sprinkler head 11 so that when released by the action of the heat sensing element 71, the structure 31 will not fall far enough to strike a person or equipment below.

In operation, the jaw portion 33 is inserted in the head 11 between the orifice 21 and the bottom end 17 with the cushion 45 registering with the orifice 21. The handle portion 35 is then manually contracted by squeezing, for example, until the cushion 45 is firmly forced against the orifice 21 to stop the flow of water therefrom. At this time, the holding assembly 55 maintains the pressure so applied through the operation of the ratchet portion 59 in order to hold the structure 31 in place and thus prevent the further flow of water.

In the event that the area around the sprinkler head 11 is subjected to an unsafe level of heat, the heat sensitive mate rial 77 will melt and allow the cap 73 and the dome to separate as shown in FIG. 2. Under these conditions, the spring 43 will force the jaw portion 33 to close and thus release cushion 45 from its orifice closing position. The wei ht ofthe structure 31 W1 cause it to fall away from the head 1 and the water will now flow from the orifice 21'and be deflected over'a'large area by the deflector l5. 1

From the foregoing, it should be evident that the invention provides a novel, simple, inexpensive an reliable means to temporarily cut off the flow of water from an activated sprinkler head.

Although a particular type of heat sensing element has been described, it should be obvious that other types of such elements may be substituted. Also, the positioning ofthe various parts of the structure is not critical and other organizations may be made within the scope of the invention. In other words, it will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure and description are for illustrative purposes and do not limit the scope of the invention which is defined only by the claims which follow:

I claim: 7

1. An automatic sprinkler shutoff device for temporarily preventing the release of water from an orifice on a previously activated automatic sprinkler head having a space between the orifice and the body of the sprinkler head, said device comprising:

a plierlike structure having a jaw portion at one end and a grip handle portion at the other end with a pivot therebetween, said structure being arranged that said jaw portion expands when said handle portion is contracted;

bias means attached to said plierlike structure for providing a biasing force that tends to close said jaw portion;

resilient cushion means attached to an outer surface of said jaw portion for covering said orifice and preventing the flow of said water when said jaw portion is expanded in said space between said orifice and said body of said sprinkler head by a contracting force being applied at said handle portion against said biasing force;

holding means coupled to said handle portion for maintaining said expansion of said jaw portion against said biasing force; and

heat sensing means coupled to said holding means for releasing said handle portion in order to allow a said handle portion to expand under the influence of said biasing force and to thereby disengage said resilient member from said orifice.

2. An automatic sprinkler shutoff device according to claim 1, wherein said bias means is an outward expanding spring attached to said grip handle portion of said plierlike structure.

3. An automatic sprinkler shutoff device according to claim 1, wherein said holding means includes a linear ratchet assembly connected between the arms of said grip handle portion in series with said heat sensing means.

4. An automatic sprinkler shutoff device according to claim 1, wherein said heat sensing means comprises a metallic cap member removably attached to a metallic dome member by a heat sensitive material that is adapted to melt at a predetermined temperature.

5. An automatic sprinkler shutoffdevice according to claim 1, wherein a bumper member is attached to the outer surface of saidjaw portion opposite said resilient cushion means. 

